NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Labor leader Jodi McKay say Michael Johnsen must resign from Parliament today over allegations he offered a woman $1000 to have sex with him in his Parliament House office.
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Nationals leader and Deputy Premier John Barilaro has sent messages to Mr Johnsen asking him to resign but the Upper Hunter MP has not replied.
Transport Minister Andrew Constance told the Sydney Morning Herald that Mr Johnsen has "got to go today" and the people of NSW "don't deserve this guy in Parliament".
The latest allegations were detailed in an ABC report on Tuesday morning. The ABC said it had seen text exchanges between Mr Johnsen and the sex worker, one of which included a video of a man masturbating.
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Police are investigating an allegation made public last week that Mr Johnsen raped the woman during one of their sexual encounters in September 2019.
Labor MP Trish Doyle told Parliament last Wednesday that the woman alleged she met Mr Johnsen for paid oral sex at a Blue Mountains lookout but "towards the end the man moved around behind her and assaulted her in a way she had not consented to".
Mr Johnsen strenuously denies that allegation and has not responded to requests for comment on the latest ABC report.
Mr Barilaro told Sky News on Tuesday that he had told Mr Johnsen that, "outside of the [rape] allegations", his behaviour as a parliamentarian was unacceptable.
"The text messages are there for everybody to read. It's a standard that is not acceptable, and on that alone he should be considering his position as a member of Parliament," he said.
Ms McKay said Mr Johnsen "has to resign today" but stopped short of calling for his fellow MPs to expel him from Parliament if he refused to go voluntarily.
An expulsion vote, rarely used in NSW Parliament's history, would require MPs to return from the start of a five-week break to debate the matter.
Mr Johnsen is sitting in Parliament as an independent after the Nationals suspended him last week.
If he resigns or is expelled from the Legislative Assembly, Upper Hunter would face a by-election within several months.
Mr Barilaro conceded that Mr Johnsen's removal would place the government in a minority in the lower house, but he said that was "irrelevant".
"If it means we lose the seat of Upper Hunter, and to the citizens of Upper Hunter I apologise for what has occurred, but I'd rather stand here doing the right thing than worrying about a majority in government," he said.
He said he was "confident" Mr Johnsen would decide that the "best course of action" was to step down.
If he did not resign, Mr Barilaro said the government would examine whether to expel him when Parliament resumed in May.
Ms McKay, recounting the ABC allegations, told a media conference on Tuesday that Mr Johnsen had been sexting the woman while sitting in the chamber during a debate over water restrictions at a time when drought-affected towns in his electorate had run out of water.
"It's September 2019. Ninety-seven per cent of NSW is in the most severe drought in living memory. The town of Murrurundi in the Upper Hunter has run out of water completely and is carting in water for that community," Ms McKay said.
"And what is the member for the Upper Hunter doing? What is he saying?
"Well, he's in the chamber and he's saying, 'I'm sitting in the chamber with a hard-on now.
"Two days later during question time when we're discussing regional health, regional transport, we're discussing the budget of Fire and Rescue, what is Michael Johnsen doing?
"He's texting, 'I'm in QT [question time] right now and eff I'm horny and want you so bad. I want you and can't wait to eff you over and over again.'
"And then, when question time is finished, he takes himself into the nearest toilet, he masturbates, he films himself and he sends that message to a woman."
The woman at the centre of the allegations told the ABC she had exchanged hundreds of messages with Mr Johnsen after responding to his online advertisement for sex in August, 2019.
The ABC matched the dates and times of the text messages with video of parliamentary sessions.
Ms Berejiklian was asked about the latest report on Sydney radio 2GB on Tuesday.
"If that is correct, I am absolutely disgusted," the Premier said.
"For many women in public life when you know the challenges that exist, when colleagues or former colleagues do that type of thing, it is just beyond disgusting."
Mr Barilaro said the police investigation should continue without prejudice, but new reports about Mr Johnsen's behaviour had led him to ask the Upper Hunter MP to "reconsider his position as an independent Member of Parliament".
"Following reports this morning, I contacted Mr Johnsen to express the view that his position as a Member of Parliament is untenable," Mr Barilaro said.
"This is disgusting behaviour and will never be acceptable, nor should it be, and I'm calling for Mr Johnsen to resign from Parliament immediately."
Mr Johnsen released a statement on Wednesday evening last week saying he was "devastated" by the allegation that he raped the woman.
"I have voluntarily spoken with NSW Police and I have and will continue to fully cooperate with their inquiries," he said in a written statement.
"I am confident that any investigation will conclude that I am an innocent party."
The Nationals MP said in last week's statement that, "without admission", he was stepping aside from his parliamentary secretary role and would not sit in the Nationals party room nor the joint party room.
"I will be taking leave effective immediately for a short duration.
"As the matter is with the NSW Police I will make no further comment."
The allegations against Mr Johnsen are the latest in a string of accusations engulfing the Coalition, particularly in federal Parliament, since former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins said she had been raped in a senior government minister's office in March last year.
- with AAP